SCO agrees deal to admit new members

[aimarraul]

SCO agrees deal to admit new members
By Wu Jiao and Li Xiaokun (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-06-12 09:07
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TASHKENT - The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) on Friday, for the first time in its history, approved the legal basis for the admission of new member states, clearing the way for more Asian countries to join the emerging bloc.

Although some experts expect the SCO to develop into a group similar to the European Union, most believe it will remain prudent on expansion to maintain efficiency.

Heads of state of China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, as well as delegates from Kyrgyzstan, agreed the move at an annual summit in the Uzbek capital, Tashkent.


Muratbek Imanaliyev, secretary-general of the SCO, told Russian media the legal document would define those countries that can be classed as nation applicants, which can aspire to full membership of the SCO after completing the necessary formalities.

The expansion of the organization, which covers 60 percent of the total territories of Euro-Asia and includes a quarter of the world's population, is a hot topic.

Observer nations such as India, Pakistan and Iran have expressed intentions to join the SCO, which means the bloc embracing China, Russia and Central Asian nations will possibly be expanded to South Asia and the Middle East. Many other countries in the region, including Afghanistan, have made similar appeals.

However, Iran's path was blocked on Thursday when a fourth round of United Nations sanctions fell on Teheran for its nuclear activities. The SCO has stated any country under UN sanctions cannot be admitted.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad did not attend the summit.

Elena Ponomareva, of the Moscow Institute of International Relations, saw the acceptance of new members by the SCO in a positive light.

"The body is entering a new phase, transforming into not only a regional outfit, but also a supra-national one that can compete with such bodies as the EU in the future," Ponomareva told Voice of Russia.

"The enlargement of the SCO will boost its economic potential, and consequently, its political influence in the world," she added.

However, President Hu Jintao told his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev on Thursday that SCO cooperation and exchange with outside countries should be done in a proper and stable manner, and on the basis of improving the strength of the bloc.

Zhang Xiao, deputy director-general of the Foreign Ministry's department of European and Central Asian affairs, said on Friday that the legal basis is the first step for expanding SCO membership, noting that there are a slate of regulations to be approved on that.

"Only after the approval of those documents can member countries sit down to discuss which countries can join," he told a press briefing.

Pang Zhongying, a senior expert on world politics with Renmin University of China, is also conservative on the expansion.

"For a regional bloc, it is definitely not the more the better," he said. "Now the European Union has 27 members and we can see more complex problems. The same reason also resulted in a loose APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum).

"One of the approaches to ruin a bloc is encouraging it to admit more members," he said.

That is why the SCO has been very prudent in selecting new members, added Pang. "The SCO will enroll some new members, but I don't think it will take unqualified applicants in the future."

Beijing-based 21st Century Business Herald, a leading business newspaper in China, also cited the escalating dispute between Uzbekistan and Tajikistan on water resources, which nearly delayed the Tashkent summit, as an indication of the problems that could result from an expanded bloc.

So far, the main task of the SCO has been solving internal conflicts of the countries "living here", said the analysis. "Blind expansion will spoil it with excessive enthusiasm."

China Daily

 

[intelarpit]

I for one always support SCO to counter West....

It will be good for Asian countries to have their own organization something like NATO.....and with economic corporation like EU will definitely help us to grow at a better rate

For example: India's growth rate increased with the economic corporation with China. Something our leaders should think of

 

[Parashuram1]

I for one always support SCO to counter West....

It will be good for Asian countries to have their own organization something like NATO.....and with economic corporation like EU will definitely help us to grow at a better rate

For example: India's growth rate increased with the economic corporation with China. Something our leaders should think of

From what I heard, SCO is an economic zone meaning that it is likely to be a counterpart to European Union Economic Zone rather than NATO. Even then, SCO is not even close if you consider the contrast. How many full members are economically strong and stable? Two or perhaps three if we include Kazakhstan apart from Russia and China. With India's inclusion, what benefit would New Delhi get in an alliance with only two more powerful members as compared to its current neutral position earning itself big in the West as well as East?

While I don't intend to disrespect any country or its leadership, there's hardly any economic might in SCO as a group. Russia, China and India trio; yes I might partially agree. But Central Asia is nothing but a fuel depot to both Chinese as well as you. It'd take at least another 2-3 decades by the time Central Asian states can reach the status of a common West European country.

Militarily too, SCO is not strong. Russia and China form the backbone and the protection of another 5-8 countries - India's joining would make it a third military power as compared to most of the NATO which has a small but state-of-the-art armed forces.

So basically, in my opinion SCO would need another 1-2 decades to reach NATO's status (assuming that Central Asian states can add any strategic value to the group in this time).

 

[Speeder 2]

SCO is ONLY about Central Asia Security. Nothing more than that. Any saying that it will be a counterpart vs EU as an economic bloc is a day dream. No SCO member believes it, other than some observer statue member.



China + Japan+ Korea 3 countries alone - East Asia 3 Bloc is sufficient to counter EU as a whole ecnomically within a decade! China doesn't need SCO to take such a role.

 

[SinoIndusFriendship]

SCO is ONLY about Central Asia Security. Nothing more than that. Any saying that it will be a counterpart vs EU as an economic bloc is a day dream. No SCO member believes it, other than some observer statue member.



China + Japan+ Korea 3 countries alone - East Asia 3 Bloc is sufficient to counter EU as a whole ecnomically within a decade! China doesn't need SCO to take such a role.

Each of these things are more-or-less self-containing organizations:

SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organization)

EAC (East Asian Community)

ASEAN + 3 (CJK)

Sino-GCC

Sino-AU

South-South Cooperation (Asia + Africa + Americas)

 

[no_name]

SCO is for regional stability, so economic developments can go ahead, once the region is sufficiently developed they will float other partnership schemes

 

[prototype]

i dont think india should join here,already part of a lot of groups,IBSA,BRIC

we need to work in the group in which we r already present rathere then merely joining groups after groups

 

[dingyibvs]

The SCO will never be like NATO because China won't enter any type of alliance with any country. China doesn't want to be dragged unwillingly into wars by some complex alliance system ala WWI.

 

[mikkix]

i dont think india should join here,already part of a lot of groups,IBSA,BRIC

we need to work in the group in which we r already present rathere then merely joining groups after groups

I dont think so..
I believed india and Pakistan is a great admission in SCO...
Its a great alliance...

 

[Parashuram1]

SCO is ONLY about Central Asia Security. Nothing more than that. Any saying that it will be a counterpart vs EU as an economic bloc is a day dream. No SCO member believes it, other than some observer statue member.



China + Japan+ Korea 3 countries alone - East Asia 3 Bloc is sufficient to counter EU as a whole ecnomically within a decade! China doesn't need SCO to take such a role.

But SCO doesn't have Japan and South Korea and therefore the entire burden of stabilizing the region falls on China and Russia. Countering economically not as a group is different from countering as a group. And I don't think that Japan and South Korea would be joining the SCO any time soon; considering the timeline of 10 years.

Therefore, China alongside Russia will have to make do until we hear some official announcements from Tokyo and Seoul or even New Delhi if we see from the perspective of stable economies in Asia as a whole.

 

[Speeder 2]

But SCO doesn't have Japan and South Korea and therefore the entire burden of stabilizing the region falls on China and Russia. Countering economically not as a group is different from countering as a group. And I don't think that Japan and South Korea would be joining the SCO any time soon; considering the timeline of 10 years.

Therefore, China alongside Russia will have to make do until we hear some official announcements from Tokyo and Seoul or even New Delhi if we see from the perspective of stable economies in Asia as a whole.

One last time: SCO is THE form of the Central Asian Security Council mainly set up by and for superpowers: China and Russia, along with their energy "associates". Since when Japan and Korea were qualified to enter that picture? Not now, not in any forseeable future.

China and Russia however, as indisputedly the 2 biggest geopolitical superpowers in the region, are sufficient to sustain any "alliance" in such a loose form. No any "help" from anyone is or will be needed, no Japan, no Korea. A much junior power such as New Delhi is not qualified basicly. But that's not the whole point. The point is that: even worse, New Delhi would spoil the soup if being allowed to join as a formal member, given its severely misplaced self-perception and ambition around and beyond its immediate neighbourhood.

 

[RAHUL INDIAN]

One last time: SCO is THE form of the Central Asian Security Council mainly set up by and for superpowers: China and Russia, along with their energy "associates". Since when Japan and Korea were qualified to enter that picture? Not now, not in any forseeable future.

China and Russia however, as indisputedly the 2 biggest geopolitical superpowers in the region, are sufficient to sustain any "alliance" in such a loose form. No any "help" from anyone is or will be needed, no Japan, no Korea. A much junior power such as New Delhi is not qualified basicly. But that's not the whole point. The point is that: even worse, New Delhi would spoil the soup if being allowed to join as a formal member, given its severely misplaced self-perception and ambition around and beyond its immediate neighbourhood.

first clear ur wrong n silly perception of being even anywhere near the Russians....
Some Chinese have so many wrong notions....ii will be beacuse of such ppl that India will benefit...and India is growing very rapidly....will be a Superpower for sure in cmng times....
but unlike Chinese Indians are not arrogant and claim that we area superpower as of now, this is good....While CHinese live in dreams, India workd hard....

 

[Speeder 2]

but unlike Chinese Indians are not arrogant and claim that we area superpower as of now, this is good...

What is wrong with you, illiterate troll? Your strawman tactics is a bit too cheap, don't you think?

I clearly put either "geopolitical" or "regional" before "superpower" in most occasions to properly define what does it mean under the context, which were much more humble than what most Western mainsteam media would put ( just simple "superpower China") given the same context.

.While CHinese live in dreams, India workd hard....

^^ an Indian saying such a thing makes it sound particularly funny.

 

[SinoIndusFriendship]

first clear ur wrong n silly perception of being even anywhere near the Russians....
Some Chinese have so many wrong notions....ii will be beacuse of such ppl that India will benefit...and India is growing very rapidly....will be a Superpower for sure in cmng times....
but unlike Chinese Indians are not arrogant and claim that we area superpower as of now, this is good....While CHinese live in dreams, India workd hard....

Let me make some corrections on your statement. I'll highlight the spelling mistakes with GREEN and factual errors will be BOLDED.

.......... Indians are arrogant and claim they are a superpower as of now......... While Indians live in dreams, China works hard.

 

[SinoIndusFriendship]

What is wrong with you, illiterate troll? Your strawman tactics is a bit too cheap, don't you think?

I clearly put either "geopolitical" or "regional" before "superpower" in most occasions to properly define what does it mean under the context, which were much more humble than what most Western mainsteam media would put ( just simple "superpower China") given the same context.



^^ an Indian saying such a thing makes it sound particularly funny.

That's because of several posts I made that observation, so RAHUL INDIAN just switched China with India, and India with China. Obviously, those posts of mine (several months back) had made such an impression on him.